This invention relates to the novel compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline and its use for flavoring foods, particularly in imparting a "scented" rice flavor to foods.
In the food industry, it is well recognized that flavor and aroma play a critical role in the value of food products for consumption. Aroma also plays an important role in insect perception of a food and knowledge of the identity of important aroma components of a food is useful in preventing insect infestation.
Aroma and flavor are particularly important in the consumption of rice and products made therefrom. A considerable number of varieties of rice are grown throughout the world with a variation in the degree of aroma and flavor. Consumers from different parts of the world or heritage vary as to rice variety preference. For example, Texas Long Grain rice or Calrose rice varieties grown in the U.S. are considered to have a "bland" flavor and aroma; these varieties are popular with many U.S. consumers. In contrast, rice varieties such as Basmati, Milagrosa, and Malagkit Sungsong varieties which exhibit a more intense "aromatic" flavor and aroma (denoted as a "scented" rice flavor and aroma) are preferred by consumers in or from South East and East Asia, e.g., India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia; the Orient, and the Middle East. In addition to being more aromatic, these varieties are also more costly.
The volatile flavor and aroma components of rice have been intensely investigated by a number of researchers over the years, and although over 100 compounds have been identified as volatile components of cooked rice (see Yajima et al., Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, Volume 43 (12), pp 2424-2429 (1979) and Volume 42(6), pp 1229-1233 (1978), and Tsugita et al., Agricultural and Biological Chemistry, Volume 44(4), pp 835-840 (1980) and Volume 42(3) pp 643-651 (1978)), no single compound has been identified as exhibiting the aromatic flavor and aroma of the expensive "scented" rice varieties.